Coto Donana Region, Spain – April 1st – April 4th, 2008
It was with great excitement that Rob Sandham, Mike Duckham, my 9-year old son Aled and I set off to Spain early on April 1st to be part of ‘the biggest twitch’ experience. Alan Davies and Ruth (www.thebiggesttwitch.com) are in the middle of a fortnight in Spain as part of their world listing epic and we had timed our visit to coincide with their visit to Spain’s most famous asset; the Coto Donana.
We flew from Liverpool with Easyjet and hired a car from Malaga and drove the three hours to the Huelva region, where we would stay and the Hostal Pino Donana, in the small town of Hinojos, just a few miles north of the national park. Upon leaving the airport we started birding – Bee-Eaters, Hoopoes, Black Kites, Pallid Swifts, Crested Larks and White Storks all evident on the journey and providing entertainment en route. We arrived at our hotel at 2.30pm, unloaded the car and set off to meet Alan and Ruth at El Rocio; the main ‘birding’ town of the area.
On our arrival we found Alan and Ruth basking in the Spanish sun, having a drink in a bar that must have the most amazing view in Europe. The lagoon at El Rocio holds thousands of birds of many different species; flocks of Glossy Ibis, Black winged Stilts, Greater Flamingos, Collared Pratincoles and Black Kites filled the lagoon and surrounding skies. We found it hard to tear ourselves away, but Alan and Ruth were on a mission, they needed Crested (Red knobbed) Coot for their big year so we needed to move quickly to get to the ‘Laguna del Portil’ before the evening. On the journey there, we were amazed by the numbers of migrant Shrikes on roadside posts. The numbers of Woodchats must have reached 50+ by the time we reached our destination. With scopes up and trained on every Coot on the water we set about locating the notoriously difficult Red knobbed Coot. Plenty of birds showed themselves with flocks of Red crested Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard and a number of Black necked Grebes fed on the lake, while waders around the periphery included Wood and Green sandpiper, Little Stint, Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers and plenty of Black winged Stilts. Fan tailed warblers (Zitting Cisticolas) were everywhere along with Cetti’s Warblers, Red rumped Swallows and Pallid Swifts. Unfortunately no Coot with red knobs!
We returned to El Rocio to view the fantastic spectacle on the marshes and enjoyed great views of Booted Eagle, Curlew Sandpipers, two hunting Black shouldered Kites as well as many Whiskered Terns and Marsh Harriers as the sun went down.
The next morning we got up bright and early ready for a Spanish bird race. We had high hopes of breaking the 100 barrier and set off to meet Alan and Ruth at the town of Villamanrique. Unfortunately things didn’t start well, and best we tried with Mike’s excellent directions we couldn’t find Alan. After a series of phone calls we located each other thankfully but our bird race was already behind schedule. A roadside stop provided us with singing Nightingale, Bee-eaters, Sardinian Warbler, Serins, Crested Larks and the amazing spectacle of White Storks nesting in a colony just outside the village. We continued onwards to a visitor centre right in the middle of the Donana National park. It was quite a journey, driving off road for many miles and having to abandon one car due to the severity of the potholes we were maneuvering across. What great un though and Aled took great delight in the ‘Indiana Jones’ style adventure, The birding wasn’t bad either with amazing views of a flock of Night Herons, singing Great Reed warblers, Corn Buntings every hundred yards or so, roadside Short toed Eagles and Booted Eagles while a Black shouldered Kite on a fence post was awesome. One of the surprises of the trip was the number of Great White Egrets present, a species that we had not expected to see but evidence of their obvious western expansion. A single Common Crane was also a bonus, feeding in the same area as a number of Storks and Herons.
The arid farmland produced plenty of special birds too, Short toed and Lesser short toed Larks were located easily, while Calandra Larks were everywhere, with their bat like display flight over every field. One of the highlights of the day were the three flocks of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse totaling around 20 birds, that we came across. A lifer for Mike, Rob and I and a species we enjoyed watching on the ground as well as wheeling around calling. A Savi’s Warbler was watched in a roadside reedbed as it reeled from the top of a prominent reed. Montague’s Harriers fed over he fields, including an amazing ‘melanistic’ bird; a form we had read about and were aware of but never thought we’d see; what a beauty! Some three hours later, after an epic journey we finally made it to the reserve. The journey had been certainly worth it.
Through the large glass windowed visitor centre windows we viewed many Purple Gallinules, Flamingos, Whiskered Terns, Cattle Egret while having a super cup of tea. Mike did his best to quiz the delightful female warden about information regarding rare breeding species and with his charm succeeded in finding out about a site that Crested Coot and Marbled Teal are sometimes seen. We headed on, picking up Alan and Ruth’s car on route, only having to return once to the centre as Rob had left his trousers on the car roof as we drove off (don’t ask!), only to be told no-one had found his trousers there. Luckily for Rob, we found them on a roadside verge a bit further down the road!
We headed off to the lagoon on the eastern edge of the Donana and on arrival we soon realized that this would be no easy task as there was literally thousands of Coot on the lagoon. We set about looking for our quarry, looking for that diagnostic fluffy looking back end and slimmer neck. Ruth located a possible candidate and upon grilling and get a bit closer the bird soon revealed its Red knobbed forehead. Bingo! We settled down to watch one of Europe’s rarest birds, a Red-knobbed Coot and one of our main target species for the trip. What was even more pleasing was the fact that it wasn’t a ‘neck banded’ re-introduced bird, but a true wild individual. The next hour or so was spent searching through the many thousands of duck, including Garganey and many Red crested Pochard as well as the waders; 100+ Ruff, 50+ Avocet, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Wood, Green and Common Sanpipers.
Sardinian Warblers were very evident with their scratchy call coming from deep within the scrub.
On the way home we stopped off for an hour at the Centro de la Rocina at El Rocio for an hour to bump up the woodland species numbers. Nightingales were very evident, while the highlight was s pair of Thekla Lark in the nearby scrub. Also here we saw several Woodlark, Corn Buntings and Stonechat. The last two hours of light were a joy. Sat on the balcony of the lakeside restaurant we scoped the nearby lagoon, sipping our beers and watching some great birds. Pride of place went to a stonking juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle which soared over the lake. Another of our target species and Aled’s main reason for coming on the trip, now he could go home happy! Roosting birds filled the marsh with Squacco Heron, 30+ Purple Heron, 150+ Cattle Egret, 50+ Glossy Ibis, 200+ Collared Pratincole all making it a hive of activity.
Next morning saw the decision to try and beat yesterday’s figure. To do this we needed sea birds. At dawn we decided to have a seawatch at Matalascans, the nearby beach resort. From the lighthouse we were a little disappointed with the numbers of birds moving offshore, although we were thrilled to log a number of Auduin’s Gulls amongst the local Yellow-legged and Lesser black backed Gulls. More exciting was the numbers of birds flying in off the sea; Hoopoes, Iberian Yellow Wagtails and Woodchat Shrike were all seen bounding over the waves to reach land. Melodious Warbler, Willow warbler, Subalpine Warbler, and a superb Orphean Warbler had made landfall in the bushes here.
Moving inland we birded the area around the Acebuche visitor centre. What a great spot. The pools here quickly gave us Savi’s Warbler, Purple Swamphen, Squacco Heron, Red-crested Pochard, and an amazing female Marsh Harrier who repeatedly attempted to take a Mallard! The scrubby woodland was alive with birds. Great views were had of Thekla Lark, our first Tawny Pipits, Black-eared Wheatear, Sub-alpine Warbler, Dartford Warbler, and lots of Azure-winged Magpies around the picnic site. As Aled and I were buying t-shirts depicting Imperial Eagles as trophies of our success, Rob and Mike located a superb Western Bonelli’s Warbler just outside the visitors centre. Other birds seen while trying to locate the Bonelli’s were Crested Tit, Redstarts and a pair of Black cap.
The woodland just south of El Rocio yielded Iberian Chiff-Chaff, which gave us all amble opportunity to swat up on all the features ready for finding a stray bird in the U.K. We also had Short-toed Treecreeper, singing Wryneck and hundreds of Bee-Eaters flying overhead. Two Booted Eagle were magnificent overhead.
We finished off our day yet again at El Rocio. This time two superb Spanish Imperial Eagles kept us entertained along with a hunting Black shouldered Kite, while new birds included Alpine Swifts and two Great Spotted Cuckoos picked up at great distance by Mike. The birds were being chased and harassed by the local Magpies and many Spotless Starlings. What a superb end to the day. An amazing 127 species were seen by the team during the day. Tomorrow morning we would be leaving the area to head south before catching our plane late evening so we spent our last evening at El Rocio, driving around the marshes and town taking in its amazing cowboy western features. Every house has its own wooden frame to tie up their horses! It’s a place hat I’ll certainly return to.
April 4th was our last day and we were up at 05.30 to make the journey to Laguna de Medina by dawn. The area didn’t disappoint with the first birds seen a flock of 50+ White headed Ducks. This species was a new bird for the year for Alan and Ruth and there was a little celebration before moving on. The lake also held our first Ferruginous Duck of the trip as well as six Stone Curlew which were also our first. The usual Purple Gallinules, Greater Flamingos, Black necked Grebe, Red crested Pochards and Black winged Stilt were also present.
Next stop was the Guadalquivir River, where our quarry was to be the elusive Marbled Duck. Unfortunately, some lack of detail in the directions cost us a couple of hours searching for the right area, but our wrong turns did produce a Black Stork and some great views of Griffon Vulture. When we finally got to the right area it was certainly well worth it. Yellow wagtails were everywhere and it was a real lesson in Wagtail race i.d. Many ‘Iberian’ wagtails showed well, with some ‘flavissima’ Yellow Wagtails, ‘blue headed’ wagtails and a single ‘Ashy-headed’ bird. The birds fed alongside Lesser Short-toed Larks and Short toed Larks, Tawny Pipits and Crested Larks. Several Spectacled Warblers showed in the low vegetation at the rivers edge. The lagoons were teeming with birds, 200+ Avocets, 200+ Bar and Black tailed Godwits, many Gull billed and Whiskered Terns, Mediterranean Gull and superb views of many Slender billed Gulls. No Marbled Duck unfortunately but we all watched the birding spectacle in awe as unfortunately the minutes ticked away and it was time to head home. We said our goodbyes to Alan and Ruth and wished them well on the rest of their epic journey.
We arrived in Malaga with an hour to spare so headed down to the beach for a last chance seawatch to boost the trip list. There was an amazing amount of activity offshore with up to ten Arctic Skua, five Great Skua and two Pomarine Skuas harrying the gulls offshore. Balearic Shearwaters and Auduin’s Gulls were also present, while bizarrely almost the last bird of the trip was a flock of Monk Parakeet; a bird that has colonized this area of Spain and has made its way onto the National list. It is a beautiful bird but not quite feeling right ticking it as a lifer for us all.
Three and a half days of dawn to dusk birding was over and we finished our last day with an incredible 129 species. There can’t be many countries hat you can get this amount of species consistently each day without really trying too hard.
Our combined trip list finished at an impressive 160 species. I’m sure Mike and Rob will agree that this area is thoroughly recommended for any birder whether to relax and take in the birds or o bird ‘hard-core’ from dawn until dusk or even to take advantage of the amazing photographic opportunities on offer. Aled and I will certainly be back.
Anyone wishing detailed info about locations and species etc, feel free to e-mail me.
Great report, only wish I was there now.
Regards
John
Excellent report, I felt the same about Monk Parakeet in Florida last week. A trip for next year I think